MESMERIZING drawings, discomforting panels... this book is easily a landmark of the graphic novel genre.
I first saw an excerpt from this book in The New Yorker magazine’s cartoon issue. The teaser captured cleverly the Adam and Eve episode of Genesis—which of course is the tastiest to draw and capture in comics. It is what attracted me to buy.
Of course the whole book is not as entrancing as that one episode. For example, there are boring chapters explaining lineage—man 1 and man 2 are the sons of man from his “seed” to this woman, and then Crumb did his best to draw unique faces of these persons (with distinct facial hair, headwear, accessories, etc.) to differentiate them and maintain reader interest.
But then the chapters showing the semi-savagery, primitiveness, and weirdness of this first book of the bible are depicted brilliantly. Those make the book's price worth it.
At the minimum, it will make you open that thick bible languishing at your shelf to check if the various narratives, characters, and scenes are really in there. And indeed you’ll discover that everything is in there! Incest, massacres, bludgeoning, generous amounts of sex, a selfish, “love-me, praise-me, you-are-my-servant" God (He seems to be competing with other Gods on some parts), Abraham pimping his wife, rape,... as the cover says--everything illustrated "nothing left out!"
How Crumb draws his people and frame a scene bring out that very unique appeal. It is raw talent to imagine and draw Noah, for instance, as looking like a bumbling, confused old man, and Rachel to have the nose ring, and with a face of seeming perpetual condescension. I also love how we God was depicted here as the "traditional" long beard and flowing white dress... but with a twist of a very expressive face (you'll know when he's really mad).
Definitely worth the price! Deserves a place in your bookshelf. As a coffee table book, it would entrance any guest who casually picks it up. Radical.
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